By Philip C. Stittleburg, NVFC Chairman
For FireRescue1.com

As another year comes to a close, I am glad to see there have been many successes for the volunteer fire and emergency services in 2011.

At the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), we have released many new training webinars, entered into promising partnerships, strengthened international relationships, and continued expanding critical programs such as Fire Corps, the Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program, and the National Junior Firefighter Program.

However, there have also been many disappointing hits to the volunteer fire and emergency services. For the second straight year, the number of volunteer firefighters has decreased.

The National Fire Protection Association’s U.S. Fire Department Profile Through 2010 shows there are 44,000 fewer volunteers in 2010 compared to 2009.

Perhaps even more troubling is that the aging trend we have seen in the volunteer fire service for the past seven years continues. In 2010, 51.2 percent of firefighters in communities under 2,500 were over 40.

The percentage of firefighters over 50 years old serving those communities has risen every year since 2000 and now stands at 28.7 percent.

Read the full message on FireRescue1.com.